THE fatal accident involving five motorists in Penang must serve as a warning to the people about the dangers of illegal street motorcycle racing if the problem is not eradicated immediately, said PBM Youth chief Na’im Brundage.
Na’im was referring to the early morning accident along the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway in George Town, Penang on Sunday (July 17) that claimed five victims several days ago.
“Illegal street motorcycle racing has been going on for quite some time now and it is a cancer to the society in every state in the country,” he said in a statement yesterday (July 21).
“Illegal street racing has existed since the 1980s and has continued up to this day with the participation of the younger generation.
“The damage brought upon by this ‘Mat Rempit’ culture not only involve traffic offences but also has an impact on other social issues such as drug abuse, promiscuity, gambling and even violent crimes.”
Na’im said that up until now, there has yet to be a consensus in studying the number of youths involved in this matter, although it has been observed that there are thousands of youths involved either as racers, supporters or spectators of illegal racing activities that occur almost on a nightly basis throughout the country.
“Despite the many operations and roadblocks conducted by the authorities, it seems that there is no end to the ‘Mat Rempit’ problem which will continue to cast a shadow on the country’s social development,” Na’im commented.
“The problem is exacerbated when certain parties glorify this perverse culture in works of art such as film, songs and dramas that seem to consider these illegal street racers as ‘heroes’.
“What’s worse, there are also political leaders who had shamelessly supported influencers who promote this culture as motorsports icons although what these illegal street racers are doing goes against what motorsports is truly all about.”
According to Na’im, the task of eradicating the ‘Mat Rempit’ culture should not only be the authorities’ burden to bear because despite the numerous operations and crackdowns, eradicating the culture is no longer straightforward.
“The ‘Mat Rempit’ culture has already become synonymous with Malaysian youths, especially among Malay youths from the B40 group,” he noted.
Na’im said that as a party that has close ties with the grassroots, PBM is well aware that there are various factors leading to the continuous growth of this culture in Malaysia, and among them are peer influence, the lack of suitable spots for youth activities and the absence of a suitable platform for young people to develop their interests and hobbies.
“As such, we suggest that the Government intensify youth empowerment programmes [as a first step to eradicating this culture].
“The National Service Training Programme (PLKN), Rakan Muda and other similar programmes can attract the interest of youths and nurture them so that they do not get caught up in the ‘Mat Rempit’ culture,” he said.
“We also suggest that youth organisations, political parties and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) work together to organise positive programmes and activities that can attract the interest of young people especially those from the B40 group who make up the majority of those involved in the illegal racing scene in Malaysia.”
Na’im also expressed his hopes that the Government would provide a blueprint detailing the eradication of the ‘Mat Rempit‘ culture according to the needs of each state in the country.
“This is important as the factors influencing youths to take up illegal street racing varies according to different states and localities,” he elaborated.
“A blueprint will also serve as a reference so that we can ascertain how far we have succeeded in preventing the spread of such culture to future generations.
“If all parties can work together, we believe that the perverse culture can be completely eradicated and the ‘Mat Rempit’ culture will simply be recorded as a dark moment in the country’s history.” – July 22, 2022
